Product Details

• Actors: Oleg Tabakov, Yelena Solovey, Yuri Bogatyryov, Andrei Popov, Avangard Leontev
• Directors: Nikita Mikhalkov
• Writers: Nikita Mikhalkov, Aleksandr Adabashyan, Ivan Goncharov
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Subtitles: English
• Rated: Unrated
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Kino Video
• VHS Release Date: June 27, 2000
• Run Time: 140 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301884434
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #351,173 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Writer-director Nikita Mikhalkov (Burnt by the Sun) combines some accomplished and evocative visuals with a tongue-in-cheek morality play about the price of personal freedom in this 1979 adaptation of the 19th-century Russian novel by Goncharov. Oleg Tabakov plays the title character, an amiable and enigmatic man who, after years of anonymous toiling as a landowner, begins to live his life in a virtual slothlike existence. Oblomov is regarded by others around him as something of a harmless joke, but as he passes the days in bed indulging himself with food and aimless pondering, he reminisces about his childhood and the life he's led, and he discovers a fulfilling poetry to his life. Eventually, though, his celebration of laziness threatens to ruin his life and all he holds dear. The film employs a deft and pastoral visual style to augment the joy and freedom this man feels at being able to control his own destiny, even with tragic results. A challenging and thought-provoking effort, Oblomov is a distinct and original piece of cinema. --Robert Lane

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars odd and beautiful, November 10, 2002

By 

Alejandra Vernon "artist & illustrator" (Long Beach, California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Oblomov [VHS] (VHS Tape)

"...for Ilia Ilyich, lying down was neither a necessity, as it is for a sick man, nor an occasional need, as it is for one who is tired. It was his normal state".
Based on the classic novel by Ivan Goncharov, this is a strange but fascinating film about lethargy as a form of escape, as the melancholy Ilia Ilyich Oblomov (in a wonderful performance by Oleg Tabakov) avoids his problems by sleeping, while his world crumbles around him. His avoidance of making decisions gets complicateed when a childhood friend introduces him to Olga (Elena Solovei).

Written (along with Alexander Adabashian), and directed by Nikita Mikhalkov ("Burnt by the Sun", "Anna"), it has gorgeous cinematography by Pavel Lebeshev, who makes some scenes have the look of old paintings.
If you like your films with a lot of action, this one is not for you, and perhaps its delicacy makes it a "woman's film", though it is a thoughtful, and sometimes very funny film...the scene where Oblomov finds out about the older suitor is hilarious.

This is one that is worthy of several viewings, as it explores Oblomov's fear, his love, the simplicity/complexity of his life. There is a lovabale innocence about him that is endearing, and the end always touches me deeply, with its exquisite Rachmaninov choral piece...a fitting ending to this lovely work of art.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lyrical film I have searched for since 1980., July 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Oblomov [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I first saw this film while in college in New York city in 1980. I was studying Russian language at the time and was mesmerised by the beautiful language and the soft, dreamlike view of this man's ennui and inability to grow up. I remembered vividly his calling to his mother when he was a little boy: "maminka pre-ekhala, maminka pre-ekhala" which means mama has come home. He couldn't get enough of his enigmatic and distant, aristocratic mother and that sadness lingered throughout his life. The only other time I found the film was in Leningrad (as it was called then). I saw it in a kinoteatre on Nevsky Prospekt. I was thrilled to find it and have never seen it playing anywhere since.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Read the book; the film is no masterpiece, July 4, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Oblomov (DVD)

This film captures some of the feeling of the Goncharev novel, which is one of the best books I've ever read. As with any movie about a lengthy literary work, this film glosses over the intricacies of the plot and is a superficial study of the characters. But given the intellectual intricacies of the novel, the director has to get five stars for the effort.

A principal plot line of the book contrasting the pure-heartedness of Oblomov and the conflict between this aspect of his (Russian) character and that of the Westernizers is completely absent. Since this conflict between traditional Russian social values (promoted by the Slavophiles as Russia's salvation) and the Euroopean approach to the world (promoted by the Westernizers) is critical to understanding Goncharev, the movie leaves a lot to be desired. The very interesting conclusion of the novel, in which the identity of the narrator is surprisingly revealed, is absent from the film or at least loses its dramatic impact.

For a commited Russophile, and especially someone who has read the Goncharev book, I recommend this film. But for others: skip the film, get the book and read it!